Check the Reading
by SevenSixteen
Summary: Paige comes home early with big plans for she and her wife. She doesn't expect to come home to her crying daughter, two angry sons and a blank pregnancy test - especially since they're all supposed to be in school. Paige needs Emily, but hey, what's new? Paily Week Day 1 submission. Paily with Kids. Featuring a little Haleb. Rated T for content suggestion (pregnancy).


**I told myself I'd only do one submission for Paily Week and I chose this one. But here it is. The kids are a little grown up, but I just love this idea od Paily as parents. The names are a bit corny, but hey, sue me. Read! Enjoy! Review!**

* * *

Everything would be ready by the time Emily got off work. She and Emily's days off finally aligned and this time, there weren't any kids or monthly annoyances to interrupt. She had everything planned. Emily would come home from work to a surprise dinner, a nice bubble bath and lovemaking all through the night.

The twins were going over to Spencer's for the weekend, straight after school, and their daughter had made plans with friends. Paige thought this over as she jiggled the keys into the lock and turned. She had taken off early to get everything ready. With one arm curled around a bag of groceries, Paige walked through the door and went straight for the kitchen.

She went through a mental checklist. "Food, check; bubble bath stuff, check; McCullers' charm; check," she listed off. "Maybe some music…" she looked around, "Is that during dinner, the bubble bath, or the lovemaking?" she asked herself. She shook her head and decided against the music… Emily wouldn't mind but she wouldn't let it go that she was being immensely corny. Her thoughts were cut off by a faint wail. Paige's brow worried with confusion. She checked her watch.

2:11pm

The kids were still supposed to be in school. She made her way up the steps as quietly as possible, looking for something to pick up. Nobody should be in the house, and according to everyone else, she shouldn't be either. She heard it again, this time clearer, coming from the direction of her daughter's room. Her heart dropped and her adrenaline picked up.

Never has she ever been happier that the twins didn't pick up after themselves. Right there, by the rail of the stairwell was Emmett's forgotten baseball bat. She picked it up and let her wrists adjust to the weight. It was metal for performance's sake, at least that's what she told her sons. She and Emily knew that a metal baseball bat would be hard to break so there would be less chance that they'd have to replace it. They saved money that way.

Her daughter's bedroom door was slightly cracked, which was odd. Her daughter always closed and locked her door for fear that the twins would get in and tear everything up. She hoped that her daughter hadn't skipped school and or played hooky, especially with a boy.

"Milly?" Paige asked aloud, opening the door and stepping through the threshold. There she saw her daughter sobbing against her pillow with her sons desperately trying to pacify her. Emmett looked angry and Peyton had this sad expression on his face; a look she hadn't quite seen before on him. "Baby, what's wrong?" Paige asked, catching everyone's attention. She threw the bat down before the bed. Peyton who was closest to the door moved as Paige replaced him by Milly's side.

"Mom, I'm so sorry," Emilia apologized. Paige was so confused. She leaned down and ran her fingers through her daughter's hair.

"What's wrong? Why aren't you guys in school?" Paige asked. Emilia turned from her pillow, tears smearing her face and a bit of the eye liner she had on. It told Paige that she had been crying hard for hours. Paige looked to her sons to see if they could give her answers but Emmett had a fixed scowl, which only meant that she wouldn't be getting anything useful out of him and Peyton shrugged and gave her that sad look again. He gestured over to Emilia.

It was clear that her sons had taken a side. And it was odd, too. Paige knew that Milly thought that her brothers were the bane of her existence and twins lived to annoy her. So it was odd to see them sticking together like this; odd, but welcoming. Paige held her daughter close to her. She waited until she calmed down to ask again.

Emilia looked up to Peyton who stood ready beside the bed. "Can you get it?" she asked. He nodded and disappeared into the Milly's in-room bathroom. Paige's brow worried again. What was in the bathroom? Peyton reemerged with a small stick, toilet paper covering the part he'd been holding.

"What is that?" Paige asked, knowing exactly what it was.

"Mom," she heard Milly whine, "Mom, I'm so sorry," she promised. Paige looked back at her daughter, tears welling at her eyes. Paige grabbed the stick, looking at it and trying to focus hard on the reading. But there was none. She looked down at her daughter who was clutching her pillow. "I'm so sorry."

"What happened?" Paige asked, "What's going on?"

"What do you think, Mom?" Emmett asked incredulously. "Milly might be… she might be…," he trailed off gesturing to his older sister. "And that bonehead is not even here; even after she told him that she might be!" He grunted in anger and forcefully folded his arms. He had always had the shorter fuse, more so than his brother.

"Who?" Paige asked. She was losing control of the situation. It was a shock to her own system and she was handling it, in her opinion, all wrong.

"Micah!" Emmett answered, "I love Aunt Hanna, I do, but he's _definitely_ her son," he said, with Peyton nodding in agreement.

"Emmett," Paige said in a warning tone, "Mind what you say," she told him. Emmett was showing signs of fearlessness that mirrored her wife's. He usually meant what he said and wasn't usually remorseful, either. Peyton was the one that calmed him and held him back. They were definitely two of a kind. Paige turned back to her daughter. "Why isn't there a reading?" she asked, looking back down at the pregnancy test.

"I didn't take it yet," Milly answered, "I told Micah I would and I told him to come but he…" she trailed, not wanting to finish the sentence, "and then when I figured that he wasn't gonna come, I was gonna do it by myself with Em and Pez but I just couldn't go through with it," she answered. Paige glanced at her sons and then at her daughter. She felt her heart break at the sight of her daughter's tears. She was only sixteen. She had no idea that Milly was even having sex.

"Did you and Micah not use protection?" she asked. It'd be a different issue if she hadn't. Paige couldn't count how many nights she and Emily spent telling their children how important protection was. And Micah – his parents would be outraged.

"We did but…" she stopped to hold back a sob, "but he scored it off a friend and it kind of wasn't the best fit…" and Paige grimaced at the implication of that sentence. "But we used it and he said he'd pull out to make sure… and he did, but now I'm late and I'm so sorry Mom," she burst into another round of tears.

"I say we go kill him," Emmett suggested, picking up the bat Paige set down. He positioned himself in his baseball stance and swung fast and hard.

"I'm with you," Peyton agreed, his arms folded across his chest. He was the quieter one of the two. The more observational one.

"Yeah," Emmett continued, encouraged by his brother's support, "Nobody hurts Milly but us!" he swung again. Paige rolled her eyes.

"No," she cut in, "Nobody hurts Milly ever," she corrected, "Now put that down before you break something." He did as he was told and stood with his hands atop the bat. For fourteen, she and Em's boys were tall. He let the bat fall after letting it balance and crossed his arms. She pulled out her phone. "I'm calling Emily," she announced. Milly renewed her tears.

* * *

It had taken some trouble for Emily to get out of the hospital. She had things scheduled. She needed people she trusted to fill in for her. It had only taken her a few IOUs and some promised dinners. Some of the doctors were scavengers like that. They lived bachelor lives and didn't know anything about cooking. But they loved her wife's cooking.

She rushed her way home and took her daughter into her arms immediately. She did not expect to get a call from her wife saying that she might be a grandmother.

Emilia had only wanted to take the test with her family present. Emily couldn't even begin to think about what they would do and how angry she was. After the results, she'd call Hanna and she knew how angry her best friend would be with their son.

After Milly walked out of the bathroom, tears staining her eyes and her head downcast, she sat on the bed. They all waited. Emily took a glance at her wife, who had been pacing up and down the length of Milly's room. Paige looked so worried and so lost.

"Paige," she called out, taking her wife's attention. "Talk to me outside," Emily requested, leaving the room. Paige followed quietly. Once they were outside of the room, Emily wrapped her arms around Paige's neck and brought her close. It wasn't long until she felt Paige's shoulders jump and tears at her neck where Paige's face was buried.

"I'm sorry," Paige said, pulling herself out of the hug. She wiped at her face and Emily could see Paige beating herself up over this.

"Hey, don't be upset," Emily told her. Paige looked at her expectantly. How could she not be upset about this? Their daughter was having sex. Their daughter could be pregnant. Their daughter was waiting for the pregnancy test's results. Emily relented. "I meant don't be upset for whatever you're feeling," Emily corrected.

"I just… We kept them informed, right? We did everything we could, right?" Emily nodded and kissed her wife once on the lips.

"She's going to need us more than ever," Emily stated, "No matter what the results."

"And I'm gonna be there; we're gonna be there," Paige replied. Emily smiled at her wife.

"And if I know Milly, and she's just like her mother," Emily said gesturing towards Paige, "she's gonna feel like she let you down. You know she cares about what you think the most." Paige shook her head.

"That's not true. She cares about what we both think," Paige countered. Emily nodded. She only agreed with that to a certain extent. They both loved their children equally but Paige was the fun and reasonable mom. Even though Paige's fuse was shorter, Emily had been the enforcer. Paige was usually apart of their antics and Emily believed that _someone_ had to be responsible. So she took the role of tough mom happily.

"Let's go back in there," Emily prompted, kissing Paige again before leading her into the room. She let go of Paige's hand and walked over to Peyton and Emmett who had in moved closely – for what Emily guessed to plan against Micah. They were unhappy. Both her boys stood at 5' 10'' with identical expressions on their faces.

"Thank you," she said, making them lean down so she could kiss both their cheeks, "Thank you for trying to protect your sister," she finished. They both shrugged.

"There's nothing we wouldn't do to help out Milly," Emmett replied.

"Yeah, except everything," Peyton shot in. Emmett nodded in agreement and flashed a smile.

"Yeah, except everything," Emmett confirmed. "You know… but not including this, though, because we're all over this, Mom, don't worry." Emily shook her head.

"You're not all over this," she told them, "Don't do anything that will make me have to bail you out of jail," she warned.

"They would never know," Peyton reasoned in defense. Emily wanted to laugh.

"But I'll know," she said, "Please don't do anything," she pleaded. They sighed simultaneously but relented. Emily looked over at her wife who was whispering to their daughter. Emily smiled at the sight until Paige looked up.

"I think it's time," she announced.

* * *

The test was negative.

The test was negative but that didn't stop Emily from making an appointment with Milly's physician. Sometimes pregnancy tests gave false readings and she wanted to be sure. Paige began dinner. Emily knew her wife was a bit upset about missing out on their night alone, together. She knew what Paige had been up to since she called her office earlier in the day. She'd taken off early and they'd have the house to themselves, so she caught on quick. She was even looking forward to it.

They decided to have a family night in. The boys and Paige (periodically checking on the food) caused a ruckus running around the house playing. And while their daughter was a bit more subdued because of recent happenings, she had helped Emily with tidying things up after them.

Emily had called Hanna when Paige needed to leave the house for an hour. She had told everyone that she was going on a mission and that alone had the boys interested. They had tagged along, leaving just Emily and Emilia alone together to watch the food cook.

When Emily told Hanna what was happening, she swore she'd only heard her best friend so angry when she missed a shoe sale.

"Micah Spencer Rivers, you get your ass down here now!"

The Rivers immediately made their way to the McCullers' home. Emily offered for them to stay for dinner. She had never seen Caleb so upset. Hanna had made it clear that they weren't upset with Milly, but by the situation. Paige and the boys had come back just in time.

Emmett and Peyton sat on both sides of Micah. They were almost as tall as he was and the numbers intimidated him quite easily. They sat in the family room as Micah apologized for being absent. He explained that he was terrified and could quite face the consequences of their actions. But he had admitted to loving Emilia. Emily wouldn't have believed it if it hadn't put the brightest smile on Milly's face.

Paige had come from checking on the food and announced that it would almost be ready. She then dropped a crumpled brown paper bag on the coffee table. Hanna had openly quizzed about what was in the bag and Paige gestured for her to look inside. After peeking inside the bag, Hanna dumped all of its contents onto the coffee table.

There were boxes and multiple singular packs of condoms, even the female brand. Both Milly and Micah looked embarrassed. Caleb smiled at what he'd seen. He was quite pleased with the move. Paige explained, more so to Milly than Micah, but hoped he was listening, that there would be no sex in the house. Before Emmett could interrupt she added that there would be no sex that didn't involve both she and Emily together, which caused her wife to blush. She then explained that Micah was allowed over with an open-door policy. She went on to say that she couldn't stop Milly from having sex, but she hoped she'd be better prepared every time. Hanna jumped in with, "And don't think we won't providing you with a stash of your own, mister," she directed towards Micah. He nodded bashfully. Emily added that she would talk to Milly about birth control later, when they were alone.

After that, dinner held a lighter mood. Emmett and Paige told most of the jokes as Caleb added a story or two to help in. The lovebirds sat next to each other holding hands under the table, but Hanna kept a close supervision.

Emily almost wanted to laugh when she heard Peyton give a whispered warning to Micah, "If you ever almost get my sister pregnant again, we're coming for you," he said gesturing over to his brother who had been telling a joke. Micah paled and tried shifting his chair closer to Milly. Emily leaned over to her son.

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that," she whispered, "But thank you; I think I needed to hear that." He nodded, tuning back in to his brother's story. Emily looked over to her wife Paige who winked at her discretely. Emily couldn't help but blush. She and Paige would just have to spend another night _trying_ to be quiet.


End file.
